Arthur D. Newton

With the arrival of Art and Eleanor Newton in September of 1959, the development of sports in Berwick was about to take a gigantic leap forward.

Art played several sports. He played baseball, hockey, and tennis while in the Air Force from March 1955 through April 1958. He played fastball and hockey in Greenwood in 1960; however, it was as a builder that Art would make his main contribution to local sports. He began by organizing and coaching Midget softball, with the help of assistant coach David Miller, in the summer of 1961. The creation of this team began a resurgence of interest in softball in the area.

In the late fall of 1961, with the arrival of artificial ice in the Berwick Arena, Art, along with George Hamilton, coached a hockey team representing Aylesford in the Berwick & District Suburban Hockey League, referred to by locals as the Apple Knocker League. This team competed with teams from Berwick, Grafton, Morristown, and Graves Ltd. Aylesford won the championship in the spring of 1962.

Education and employment opportunities took Art and his family away from Berwick in 1962. They returned in 1968.

In the summer of 1969, Art organized and coached a Midget baseball team, playing on the old field in Berwick and competing against teams from Kentville and Greenwood. In the fall of that year, Art coached the Berwick Bruins Junior "B" hockey team, playing exhibition games throughout the regular season until the playdowns, which they lost, late in the run, to New Glasgow.

In the summer of 1970, Art managed the Berwick Alpines Senior "B" fastball team. Art brought in Canada Games All Star shortstop Roy Mansfield and many other star players. Not only did he coach and manage, but he built the dugout and fence and he maintained the field. The team won the Valley Fastball Championship that year and advanced to the N.S. Senior Fastball Championship, losing to New Glasgow, one home and one away, 1-0 in each game.

In the summer of 1971, Art started two teams: a Senior "A" Fastball team in the Mainland Senior League, coached by Pat Hampsey and managed by Art, and an Intermediate "A" team in the Valley Fastball League, coached by George Moody and assisted by Randy Holmesdale. The Intermediate team won the league championship. In the summer of 1973, the two teams merged into one Intermediate "A" team, which Art managed and for which he was able to secure sponsorship by Eassons Transport Ltd. Sponsorship by Eassons for Berwick softball would continue for over thirty years.

In 1981, Art assumed the position of Player-Recruiter for the Valley Wildcats Junior "A" Hockey team, a position he held for two years. This team included many Berwick players, such as Bobby Best, Brian MacAskill, Larry Morse, and Craig Prall.

Art has served on Berwick Town Council, the Western Kings Hospital Board, and the United Church board. For fifteen years, Art assisted with the organization of the Apple Tree Foundation Golf Tournament for the Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre. For the past nine years, Art has helped to organize and run the Annual Apple Dome Golf Tournament and Auction. The Berwick Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Arthur D. Newton.